Burnley vs. Leeds United

Dyche Leeds Way for Burnley

Burnley face Leeds United at Turf Moor on Tuesday night hoping to continue their impressive form under new manager Sean Dyche following Saturday`s 2-0 home win against Wolves.

The Pre-amble:

The Clarets play their second home game in the space of four days when they entertain Leeds United at Turf Moor on Tuesday night. This will be Sean Dyche`s second game in charge following his appointment as our new manager last week. The gaffer will become even more hero-worshipped if he can engineer a win against Leeds in this War of the Roses battle. He made a great start on Saturday in his first game in charge. Not only did we beat Wolves but we managed to keep a clean sheet for only the third time this season. The defence currently the leakiest in the Championship looked much tighter on Saturday and Dyche will be hoping that continues against Leeds. We are now in with a great chance of making a push for promotion providing the defence remains solid. The goal scoring will take care of itself with Austin in such lethal form ably supported by the likes of Paterson, Ings and others. The victory on Saturday sees the Clarets in 13th spot with 20 points from 14 games just eight points behind league leaders, Cardiff City and crucially only three points from the play-offs positions. Who might the sixth placed club currently be? Well it`s none other than deadly rivals, Blackburn Rovers so what a time to try and pick up three points! Rovers face a tricky game away to promotion chasing Huddersfield tonight so if they lose that and Burnley win we will at least be on an equal number of points and could conceivably be above them on goal difference.

Leeds United under high-profile manager, Neil Warnock are having a bit of an indifferent season. They are just above us on goal difference in 12th spot but have only won one of their last six Championship games although have managed to also pick up four draws. They also impressively beat Premier League, Southampton 3-0 in a Capital One Cup fourth round tie recently so the Clarets will need to be on their guard. We have not had much luck against Leeds United these past few seasons and it is time that changed so come on you Clarets!

Burnley Team News:

Ross Wallace appeared to suffer a nasty-looking head injury in the second half of Saturday's 2-0 victory over Wolves and he left the field on a stretcher after needing oxygen. A flailing arm caught him across his jaw line but it is now being reported that he is fit enough to play against Leeds after making a full recovery although it is possible he still might face a late fitness test.

Chris McCann missed the Wolves game after suffering a tight hamstring injury in the build-up to Saturday`s game and he too looks set to face a late fitness test. Another midfielder, Marvin Bartley has been sidelined with a groin problem for three games now but could be back in contention if he passes a late fitness test ahead of the Leeds clash.

Player to watch: David Edgar

Have we found a new midfield star? Edgar found himself deputising for Chris McCann against Wolves on Saturday and seemed to be enjoying his new role in midfield. He looked at ease putting in a convincing performance after being given a free role in the centre of the park. One minute he seemed to be playing the holding midfield role partnering Brian Stock and the next looking more attack minded charging forward and setting up counter-attacks. If McCann fails a late fitness test, Edgar might get another chance to shine in this unfamiliar role. He might in any case after putting in such a good performance on Saturday.

Leeds United Team News:

Leeds defender Tom Lees is a major doubt for the game. He was accidentally poked in the eye in last Friday night's draw at Brighton and had to be treated locally after suffering from temporary blindness. He now faces a scan ahead of the match. Should the 21 year old not make it, Lee Peltier is expected to partner Jason Pearce in the centre of defence.

Peltier though has also been carrying an ankle injury and the captain looks set to be assessed ahead of the game with Danny Pugh on standby. Striker Luciano Becchio is also pushing for a recall after starting the last two matches on the bench. Midfielder, Michael Tonge has also been playing recently despite nursing a problematic shoulder injury and once again he might face a late fitness test.

Player to watch: Luciano Becchio

Becchio has been rested the past two games but has still come on from the bench to score in both matches. He is Leeds top scorer, second only to Charlie Austin in the Championship with 11 goals so far this season in all competitions. He scored a penalty against Southampton in the Capital One Cup just a few moments after coming on from the bench and then hit home the equaliser at Brighton in Friday`s 2-2 draw. The 28 year old Argentinean penned a three-year contract after joining Leeds in July 2008 from financially-strapped Segunda División B Spanish club Mérida UD. He has since scored at a rate of about one goal in every 2-3 games. Warnock rested Becchio for the last two games after feeling the team needed a change but he now looks set to make a return to the starting eleven against the Clarets so we better watch out!!

Team & Tactics:

With Wallace sounding like a possible contender despite being stretchered-off as a precaution on Saturday, new manager, Sean Dyche could be in a position to name an unchanged team. There is an argument that says why change a successful winning team too although Chris McCann may have something to say about that if he passes a late fitness test. Would it be fair to drop David Edgar? He looked sharp and influential in his new found midfield role against Wolves and indeed the whole team gelled in all departments. The team played a s a unit and it was particularly pleasing to see the improvements in the back four so why change things? I would go with the same starting eleven assuming Wallace is fit and name McCann on the bench if he has fully recovered from his hamstring problem. That means we will be playing with one up front again, namely Charlie Austin and although he looks better in my opinion with a partner, he still manages to score more often than not so it`s worth the gamble at the moment if it means we look more solid at the back with holding midfielders involved. If we do line up the same and if once more Edgar is given the roaming midfield role our formation could be flexible during the game interchanging between 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1. So here is my predicted and preferred eighteen :

Ref Watch:

Sunderland referee, Geoff Eltringham takes charge of this War of the Roses clash. Burnley fans will be hoping that our 3-1 defeat at home to Leicester City one year ago when this referee was last in charge of a Burnley game will not be a bad omen! At least no cards were shown at all that day and indeed this referee is quite modest in his card showing. Last season in 39 games, he only sent off 5 players (almost i-in-8 ) and handed out 95 yellows. This season in his eleven games so far, 27 yellows have been flashed with two players being sent to the dressing room.

Match Prediction:

Leeds have managed to get a double over the Clarets for the past two seasons following their promotion from League One and have had the habit of coming from behind and scoring late on to take all three points. It is time therefore Burnley had some fortune playing Leeds. Sean Dyche is the man to lead them to victory. 3-1 Burnley!

Next Match:

Burnley travel to deepest Suffolk to face current bottom club, Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday 10th November (Kick-Off: 3pm)

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TMP, it's good to see you animated by Mr Dyche and having fun again. But if C*yle was a windmill in the technical area, how would you describe Sean? I've not seen him yet, but my mental picture is of an archetypal statue from Soviet Five Year Plan propaganda about worker heroes, but one which has now not only come to life, but is larger than life, resolute, feet set firm one in front of the other, arm pointing determinedly forward and slightly upward, eyes gazing out to the distant horizon, reachable through collective effort.

I would describe Dyche as a windmill that was better than Coyle's in separating the wheat from the chaff! Better quality, more productive and more wheat strains to choose from! (Plan B and not defence clueless). Need to be careful after just one game, but what I saw was targeted passion and good tactics

I see that the Long-Socked One's face is in a photo montage on the BBC Sport www homepage next to the headline question "Who will be Scotland's next manager?" McLeish has already said he wants to stay in club football. Can't see McKay leaving Cardiff. And I don't suppose they want that Dutch guy who ran up all the debts at Rangers when they had those funny player contracts which they thought they could keep secret. Where's Sven now? Anyway, I dare say *wen has sent in a CV with a cover note saying that he's willing to work for nothing and that he won't let Scotland down!

I dont think Edgar let us down on Saturday but in the long term he is not the answer in that position. Having said that, with how the team worked together on Saturday, I would also be tempted to start the same team if everyone is fit. I would also probably have Long on the bench ahead of Stewart.

BBC now has Appleton in a shortlist of 2 for the Blackpool job together with one of Ince, Brown and... C*yle. Concerning Edgar, when he played midfield at Selhurst early last season many people were scathing. Is that the diffrence is we lost then, but won last weekend? It's also worth noting that McCann has turned in some strong performances in the back four in prior years. As for Stewart vs Long for a bench spot, I'd rather see us develop the latter than the former. It doesn't seem that the future is spelled either Mills or Stewart.

I like to see two up front but if SD decides to concentrate on defence I have absolutely no problem with that. If we want results it has to start with a solid defence which may be unattractive at times but a promotion push has its own attractions.

I was going to wait until the end of the year in the hopes of three wise men to come out of the East, but now I do believe that we have a man at the helm who can lead us out of the wilderness. I think he has put some pride back into the dressing room as well as the fear of death.
We won't win them all but, by gum, we will make the other teams in the league sit up and pay attention
A playoff position is not as unrealistic as it was three weeks ago

Yep all positive stuff, think Howe will make a good manager at some point but a bit to early at this level for him, you can't fault Dyche two wins out of two he seems to have the motivation, let's kick on and see where it takes us UTC

Please note the Editorial comments and opinions on this site are the personal views of the Editor and should not be construed in any way to be representative of those of other Clarets organisations of which he belongs e.g. Clarets Trust. This applies to both the front page articles and posts in any of the forums.

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